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The picture of England's health

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH News Release issued by COI News Distribution Service. 27 January 2009

We're living longer, but many challenges remain

The third national Health Profile of England is published today and demonstrates improvements in critical areas of the nation's health. Death rates from cancer, heart disease and suicides continue to decline, whilst life expectancy is higher than ever and infant mortality at its lowest.

Key findings of the report show encouraging trends:

* declining mortality rates in targeted killers (cancers, all circulatory diseases and suicides); and

* increasing life expectancy, now at its highest ever level; and

* reducing infant mortality, now at its lowest ever level; and

* declining numbers of people who smoke; and

* increases in physical activity levels and fruit and vegetable consumption.

However, other trends highlight areas for improvement:

* increasing levels of obesity in adults and children; and

* geographical inequalities across the country, with a clear north/south divide.

International comparisons show:

* Premature mortality rates from cancer for males have fallen substantially faster over the last 30 years than the EU-15 average and are now among the lowest in the EU-15; however

* the prevalence of obesity in England is the highest in the EU-15 countries, and one of the highest in the wider cohort of OECD countries

The Office for National Statistics also published figures today indicating that the trend in alcohol-related deaths is now levelling out, showing that there were 8,724 alcohol-related deaths in 2007, lower than in 2006.

Public Health Minister, Dawn Primarolo, said:

"Seeing the nation's health and life expectancy improve is extremely encouraging. Sustained investment in targeted prevention and treatment have paid off. However, we have so much more to do and can't ever assume our work is done.

"The obesity epidemic in this country is an urgent priority. The Change4Life revolution is now well under way, motivating everyone to eat well, move more, and live longer. I urge anyone who sees themselves in today's figures to sign up to receive advice, tips, and support from nhs.uk/change4life or call 0300 123 4567.

"We are committed to reducing health inequalities, and have put in place the most comprehensive programme ever in this country to address them. Sir Michael Marmot is currently exploring future policy and action on reducing health inequalities in England."

Notes to editors

1. The Health Profile of England 2008 provides a collection of national and regional data to be used as a benchmark against which local areas can compare their own Health Profile data. A PDF can be downloaded here: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsStatistics/DH_093465

2. Data are the most recent available at the end of November 2008, except for the table of Regional data which were published in the June 2008 Local Health Profile reports. The Health Profile of England should not be looked at in isolation. It is part of a wider family of products, which taken together will facilitate access to key information about health and health determinants nationally and locally. The family of health profile products comprises:

* the Health Profile of England (this document)

* 386 Local Health Profiles (of Local Authority Areas)

* 10 SHA Health Profiles (with Regional breakdown) and

* an associated web-site and web-based tool

3. The Local Health Profile reports have been produced by the Association of Public Health Observatories. The above local health profiles can be viewed here: http://www.apho.org.uk/default.aspx?QN=P_HEALTH_PROFILES http://www.apho.org.uk/default.aspx?QN=HP_INTERACTIVE

4.For all enquiries, please call the customer service centre on 020 7210 4850.